Improvement in bee-hives



L. & M. TAYLOR; & E. COX.

Bee Hive. No. 52,622. Patented Feb. 13,1866.

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MTIVESSES N. PETERS. mwum n im, Washington. D. c.

LEMUEL TAYLOR, MINOR TAYLOR, AND EDWIN COX, OF JORDAN, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,622, dated February13, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LEMUEL TAYLOR, MINOR TAYLOR, and EDWIN (Jox, ofJordan, in the county of Green and State of Wisconsin, have invented anew and Improved Bee- Hive; and we do hereby declare that the fol lowingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable thoseskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side sectional view of our invention, taken in the line asm, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line yy, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detached view of a dividing-knife pertaining to thesame.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

Thisinvention relates toa new and improved bee-hive; and it consists inconstructing the same in such a manner that the hive will be kept at anuniform temperature, the health of the bees promoted, the building ofstraight combs insured, the entrance of moths prevented, and otheradvantages obtained, which will be hereinafter fully set forth.

A A represent the strips which compose the top and bottom parts of theframe of the hive, connected at the corners by a miter-joint orotherwise. B are the uprights of the frame, secured to the angles orcorners of A A, and of triangular form in their transverse section. Tothe under surfaces of the top strips A of the frame there are attachedcleats a, and similar cleats a are attached to the upper surfaces of thebottom strips A and to these cleats laths b are nailed vertically. Tothe laths mortar is applied to form an outer and an inner wall, a c. Themortar may be made of lime and sand mixed with size, (glue and water.)'A deadair space, 6, is allowed between the two walls 0 c, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2.

0 represents a moth-guard, which may be constructed of sheet metal andin the form of an inverted U, with one side (the inner one) a trifleshorter than the outer one, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The outer sideof the mothguard is attached to the inner surface of the lower part ofthe frame of the hive, and extends a short distance below it for thehive to rest upon in conjunction with screws or feetf. The upper surfaceof this moth-guard supports the brood-chamber V, which is constructed asfollows: A block of wood of the size required for this chamber isobtained, and wooden strips 9 are placed vertically against two oppositesides of it, and the upper ends of said strips are sawed vertically andabout centrally to receive the ends of tin strips h, which serve ascomb-guides. The top strips, 1', are then laid on and all the stripscovered with paper D, secured thereto by paste or glue, said paperextending all around the block and forming, when drawn from the block, arectangular chamber, two sides of which and the top are of paper andwooden strips and the other two sides of paper only, the lower edges ofthe paper sides being stiffened by wooden strips j. The paper top of thebrood-chamber is made removable, so that when the honey-box is usedthere may be communication between said chamber and box.

E represents the honey-box, which .has its top and bottom formed ofslats 70, all of the sides being of paperF. This box has uprights l atits corners, whichare connected to the top and bottom slats, the ends ofsaid slats be ing attached to transverse strips m, which are secured tothe upper and lower ends of the uprights. The paper F of the sides ofthe box projects a little over the slats 7c; The bottom slats of thishoney-box are at right angles to the top slats ofthe brood-chamber.

The top of the hive is rendered perfectly airtight by means of asealing-strip, which is a rectangular wooden frame, Gr, having a stripof tin, H, secured to its exterior surface with leather or india-rubberstripsn, both above and below it. This sealing-strip is secured on thetop of the hive by means of a clamp composed of a board, I, fitted onthe frame G, and secured to the hive by means of screws or bolts 0.

J represents a dividing-knife, constructed of thin metal, and of suchdimensions that the slats and brood-comb of chamber V may be readilydivided, as occasion may require, the knife readily cutting through thepaper, and a complete out being made through the chamber at one strokeof the knife.

The metal or tin strips h are dipped in wax, in order that the bees mayhave a proper surface to commence building their comb upon. These stripsinsure the combs being formed in vertical planes without being broughtin contact or connected together.

The moth-guard O is coated at its under side with lard or other softgease. guard, thus coated with grease, effectually prevents the mothgaining access to the hive.

In consequence of constructing the walls of the hive of two thicknessesof mortar with a dead-air space between, and a wall of paper with aspace between it and the inner wall of mortar, the temperature of thehive is rendered uniform. No air can enter at the top of the hive, itbeing sealed perfectly tight by the means previously described. 7

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- This inoth-

